| Pirates
lose in final seconds
For the second straight year the Prairie football team lost to Troy in the final seconds of a game that could’ve gone either way. The final score was 36-44 at Cottonwood Friday, Oct. 5. 
Troy got on the board first with a 52-yard run but Prairie bounced right back. Devin Schmidt’s 25 yard kickoff return set Prairie up at their 42. Prairie kept mostly to the running game on a 10-play drive with Branden Waller going in from the 4 to tie the score at 6-6. Troy answered right back with a 28 yard kickoff return and 10-play drive of their own to take back the lead at 6-12. Troy’s kickoff went out-of-bounds to set Prairie up at their 35 and it took just 2 plays to tie the score. After a running play was stopped for a loss of 2 yards, Kyle Holthaus made a short pass out toward the sideline to Waller who took the ball and went 67 yards down the sideline for the touchdown to tie the score at 12-12. Prairie then got the ball right back as Kyle Daly recovered a Troy fumble at the Troy 37 yard line. 4 plays and a pass interference penalty later, Waller scored his third touchdown on a 6 yard run up the middle. Holthaus passed to David Sigler for the 2-pointer to give Prairie their first lead at 20-12. After forcing Troy to punt it appeared Prairie was headed for another score but their drive stalled at the 16 with an illegal procedure penalty and a sack. Troy took over but again was forced to punt the ball away. Prairie took over at their own 31 and a couple of 21 yard pass plays to Sigler were the big plays in a 69 yard scoring drive. The second one went for the touchdown and Waller’s 2-point run put Prairie up 28-12 with 38 seconds left in the half.  A
turning point of the game followed as Troy took just 4 plays to go 66 yards
and cut the lead to just 8 points at the half.
Two big pass plays from George Swanger to his tall wideout, Nick Garrison, were key as they went for 25 yards and then 37 yards for the score. On the scoring play Prairie’s defender went for the ball and fell down as Garrison caught the ball and went for the score. In the second half Prairie took the opening kickoff and drove 62 yards for another touchdown. A 17-yard screen pass to Waller and a 29 yard run by Holthaus put Prairie at the 15. 3 plays later, on third down and 9, Waller made a great catch and gained 10 yards to set up first and goal at the 4. Two plays later Daly went up the middle for the score. Holthaus passed to Conner Rieman to put Prairie up 36-20. That was it for the Prairie offense though as Troy clamped down and held them to just 1 first down the rest of the game. Troy meanwhile came right back with their own scoring drive and 2-pointer to pull within 36-28 with 2:55 left in the third quarter. After forcing Prairie to punt, Troy needed just 1 play to score as another pass play to Garrison went 76 yards. On the play the Prairie defender again fell down going for the ball allowing Garrison to break free. Troy added the 2-pointer to tie the score at 36. In the fourth quarter Prairie moved into Troy territory but an interception ended the threat. Prairie forced Troy to punt the ball and took over at their own 25 with 6:34 left. If they could’ve put a drive together they could’ve pulled out the win but Holthaus’ third down pass was high and Prairie was forced to punt the ball away. 
Troy then did what Prairie needed to do when they had the ball as they marched downfield, converting 2 third down plays and then getting help from a Prairie penalty to pick up a third one. The game winning score came with 5 seconds left, on another third down play. Troy added the 2-pointer for the final 8-point margin of victory. The loss drops Prairie to 3-2 in league play and 4-2 overall. The Pirates got some unexpected help Friday night though when Lapwai upset Kendrick, meaning if the Pirates win out they can still make the state playoffs. For the game Waller gained 60 yards rushing on 13 carries while Daly added 46 on 19 carries. Prairie had 137 yards rushing on 40 attempts. Holthaus completed 11 of 19 passes, with an interception, for 170 yards. Waller caught 7 passes for 113 yards, Sigler 3 for 49 yards and Rieman 1 for 8 yards. Troy gained 189 yards rushing led by Riley Nelson who had 81 yard son 15 carries. Jeffrey Nelson added 71 yards on 14 carries. Swanger completed 11 of 16 passes for 204 yards while Riley Nelson was 1 for 1 for 6 yards. Defensively Waller led the way with 10 tackles. Rieman had 8 tackles. Sigler had 5½ tackles. Mike Matson, Zak Waller and Andy Groom had 4½ tackles each. Daly had 3 tackles and 2 fumble recoveries. Schmidt had 3½ tackles. Prairie’s next game is at Clearwater Valley this Friday, Oct. 12. Troy 12 8 16 8 -44 Prairie 12 16 8 0 -36 T-Yockey 52 run (pass failed) 8:57 1st P-Waller 4 run (run failed) 5:13 1st T-Garrison 6 pass from R. Nelson (run failed) 1:45 1st P-Waller 67 pass from Holthaus (run failed) 0:58 1st P-Waller 6 run (Sigler pass from Holthaus) 11:13 2nd P-Sigler 21 pass from Holthaus (Waller run) 0:38 2nd T-Garrison 37 pass from Swanger (Garrison pass from Swanger) 0:00.5 2nd P-Daly 1 run (Rieman pass from Holthaus) 7:37 3rd T-Berglund 14 pass from Swanger (J. Nelson run) 2:55 3rd T-Garrison 76 pass from Swanger (R. Nelson pass from Swanger) 0:22 3rd T-R. Nelson 6 run (R. Nelson pass from Swanger) 0:05.6 4th
'Powderpuff' Volleyball match is Monday This year, during homecoming week, the PHS Student body is sponsoring powderpuff volleyball in addition to the usual powderpuff football. The public is invited to come and watch the boys show off their volleyball skills on Monday night, starting at 6:00 p.m. at the high school gym. Powderpuff football, as usual, will be held Wednesday night at the football field, also beginning at 6:00 p.m. with the bonfire to follow. Please come support Prairie High’s student body and have a good time. PIRATES BOYS FOOTBALL SCHEDULE FOR 2007 31-Won 55-6 over Lewis County 14-lost to Deary 26-48 21-won 66-20 at Timberline 12-C.V., there 19-Lapwai, here, Homecoming 26-Kendrick, there 22-Lapwai, here |
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